Chapter 518 - Ignis' Volcano
Chapter 518 – Ignis’ Volcano
The next morning, we set out for the coordinates of Ignis's volcano. While the previous three lairs had all hovered around Japan somewhat, this one was set near the Equator, inside Dwarven territory.
This was somewhat troublesome to get to—the most troublesome yet—especially since the Dwarves were tight territory-wise. They had large thick borders preventing any outsiders from entering, and anyone who was caught illegally entering would be harshly punished—namely, with permanent slavery.
Yes, they had slaves.
Being a race of craftsmen who were pretty much all workaholics and alcoholics combined into one, they were always in the need for more help in their work. Slaves were the perfect servants for that.
Of course, they didn't treat their slaves horribly. In fact, they treated their slaves better than some of themselves, since the Dwarves really don't care about their own, inherently strong bodies. They give all the good food to the slaves, and treat them like a treasured prize.
Still, slaves were slaves, meaning they had to follow orders and do as told.
"So… uh, where is this volcano?" I asked Xiao Su, who was busy looking at a map. We were currently flying on a helicopter rented out from the IMF—something Ling Xin had gotten her hands on for us.
"It should be somewhere near the outskirts of Dwarven Territory," Xiao Su replied.
"Outskirts? I thought the Dwarves all lived in one massive city of architecture," Yu An Yan said—she was one of the girls coming along for this trip, as she had Fire Magic.
"Yes—the city is called Piltech. It's a full-machinery city surrounded by stone walls with automated robots, steam golems, and more—exactly what one would expect from a dwarven civilization," Obsidia said. "However, the Dwarven Territory does not end there. To obtain resources, they have many mines and excavation sites outside the city of Piltech. The dormant volcano we are heading to… if my guess is not wrong, should be one of the Dwarves' mining bases."
"So, we'll have to sneak inside?" I sighed. "Great… one more annoying thing to add to the list."
"Hold it," Mei Gui interrupted. "If it is a mining base of the Dwarves, then… would it not make sense for them to have already located Ignis's lair?"
"That's a good point," I said, and called upon the help of the other three Empyreans. "What do you guys think?"
"That should not be the case," Aquira replied. "Ignis values courage very highly. If he was to leave a lair behind somewhere… it would be hidden behind trials of fire and death."
"I agree," Terrarim said. "He has always been that kind of person."
"And so… if we had to guess, the lair is somewhere close to the very bottom of the volcano," Aerim finished with a snicker. "Y'know, where all the magma is."
"… Oh boy, sure looking forward to that," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "I'm going to give this Ignis fellow a real talking-to once I meet him."
"Uh… actually, I'd advise against that," Aerim said, giving actually helpful advice for once. "He'll only talk to you more if you insult him… he's a weird dude. Never mad, never sad, always happy and upbeat."
"I… see…" I blinked awkwardly.
"Here it is," Ling Xin hollered, having been the one who operated the helicopter all the way here. "Look below."
Yu An Yan, Mei Gui, and I peered out from the helicopter's open door, and widened our eyes at the sight below.
A massive hollow volcano, with no lava inside it, lay underneath us. The opened top of it was like a crater in the earth, and it stood above all the other mountains in the area like the leader of the bunch.
"Wow… we gotta go in there?" Yu An Yan murmured.
"Yep," Aerim said with a chuckle. "I did tell you, didn't I? Ignis's temple will be the most troublesome one out of all of us."
"Well, no sense in waiting around any longer," I said with a sigh. "Since we're here already, we might as well go."
The three girls who will be taking part in this expedition were Mei Gui, Obsidia, and Yu An Yan. They nodded at me, and together, we leaped off of the helicopter before activating Flight. All four of us had Sky Magic along with Fire, so we were able to descend with ease.
Soon, we landed at the mouth of the mountain, and peered below to see many dwarves working at its base, monitoring automated mining carts that were going inside and extracting ores and minerals, then coming back out again. At least, if all their focus was down there, we would be able to access the base of the mountain fairly easily.
"… Now, the question is, where we're supposed to go next in here," I muttered.
"Look, Master," Mei Gui said, pointing deep into the volcano, where a small door was located near the very bottom.
"Huh… a door, inside a volcano. Yeah… seems pretty suspicious to me," Yu An Yan said.
I nodded. "Agreed. It's not like we have any other leads, so… let's head down."
"Be careful, Master," Mei Gui reminded. "This may be a dormant volcano, but it will still be hot and unstable down there, as it is close to the magma layer."
*****
Soon, we arrived at the bottom of the volcano. The sounds of mining could be heard elsewhere, but the place we were at appeared to be the very center and heart of the mountain. There was no lava anywhere around, but beneath the thin layer of rock we were all walking on, was a massive pool of magma. In other words, should an earthquake happen right about now or something, we would all be toast.
… Or rather, we would be, if we didn't have any Sky Magic. Because of that risk, I chose Obsidia and Yu An Yan to come with Mei Gui and I for this excursion.
Either way, we soon arrived at the door Mei Gui found earlier, and found that it wasn't a door at all. In fact, it was an open corridor that just looked like a set of doors due to the lighting inside the volcano. The corridor appeared to lead into a downwards staircase, but…
"Uh… wait. If we go further down, isn't magma all that awaits us?" Yu An Yan asked.
"Yep!" Aerim said cheerily. "I told you Ignis was gonna be the hardest one, didn't I?"
"Oh god…" I took a deep breath. "Well, we're already here. Too late to back out now."
The girls nodded, and together, we headed into the corridor and down the stairs.
*****
Below, a trial of fire awaited us.
That was not an exaggeration. It was quite literally a trial of death, created from fire.
An obstacle course lay ahead of us, deadly and dangerous. Spinning flaming rods, flailing spiked balls of fire, and timegated flamethrowers on the walls. Not only that, but the obstacle course was laced with parkour as well, and one misstep would result in falling into red lava below.
"Great…" I muttered, rubbing my brows in exasperation. "Just what I needed."
"Flying will make this easier, but…" Yu An Yan began, and Mei Gui shook her head.
"We cannot. We must beat this challenge legitimately, just like all the lairs before this. Or else, Ignis will not acknowledge our 'courage', as he calls it."
"True," I muttered. "But by the looks of this fire… one misstep, and it'll incinerate us to death."
"Oh yes, that is no normal fire," Aerim said with a giggle. "Ignis makes sure all his tests of courage are truly to the extreme. If that fire even grazes your skin, you can say goodbye to your life, water body or not."
I gulped. I certainly didn't like the sound of that. Yes, I had a second life thanks to the Infinite Realm, but I didn't want to use it – it would mean I would lose all my memories, and have to find them all again. That sounded troublesome.
As such, I had to make it through this difficult obstacle course with no room for error, but…
"… I think it is best I proceed alone from here on out," I said to the girls, who blinked at me in surprise.
"Wha- why?" Yu An Yan asked.
"Take a good look at this obstacle course," I said. "Even if I make it across, you three have to do the same. To minimize risk, let me just go alone. It's not like there will be any danger that involves fighting… I mean, at least the previous three didn't involve anything of the sort."
"That… does make sense," Obsidia said after some hesitation. "Very well, human. We shall wait here. Just remember, you are not allowed to die. You have yet to fulfill your deal with me, and I have wasted far too much time by your side to just let that perish now."
"… Be careful, Master," Mei Gui said, not trying to argue back or anything.
Yu An Yan sighed. "I swear… you always do the most risky things. But fine… it's not like arguing with you is going to do any good. Just… come back safely, alright?"
I nodded at the three firmly.
"I'll do my best."